Photography is a diverse art form full of new and unique ideas. As such, we caught up with four 2023 graduates who are all taking their own spin on being a photographer. They told us about their style, what they learned from RMCAD, and what their goals are as artists.
Josie Whitley
How would you describe your style?
I’ve always enjoyed travel photography the most and I would love to be an independent contractor for National Geographic one day. I travel as much as I possibly can and enjoy taking landscapes of where I go. I want to go on a road trip along the West Coast taking black and white photos on film and develop it all myself to create a portfolio book from the trip.
What is the most important thing you learned at RMCAD?
I had one teacher, Todd Dobbs, who pushed me in class. He would give assignments with quick due dates, so we had to work on real-world timelines and submit photos almost immediately. But I learned to plan out photoshoots within those constraints.
My biggest goal is kind of a mix between photography and my other big hobby, baking. My goal is to open my own bakery cafe, and I’m going to call it Jo-Jo’s Kitchen. I want the sitting area to be my gallery for all my photographs.
Mackenzie Burgess
How would you describe your style?
I enjoy culinary photography. I like creating different compositions for food, capturing the physical process that it takes to cook a finalized meal or dessert. I love bringing out the color and the texture of different types of food. I take images of the full baking or cooking process which you don’t see in a lot of food photography, it’s usually just the finalized meal. I think that my work tells a more complete visual story that way.
What is the most important thing you learned at RMCAD?
My biggest takeaway was to experiment and not always stick to what I know. It’s okay to experiment outside the standard guidelines, and rules to express myself through different perspectives and angles.
What goals do you have as a photographer?
I want to network and connect with people so that I can go completely full-time in my own business and collaborate with different restaurants and bakeries to create food books or magazine publications.
Kaitlyn Pool
How would you describe your style?
I always play around with my style in each photograph I take. I like to delve into abstraction by using slower shutter speeds and photo composites. One of my maininfluences is Robert Mapplethorpe because I like the dark, really contrasted work that he does.
What is the most important thing you learned at RMCAD?
I started out doing more product photography in my lighting class, and then I challenged myself with fashion and editorial work and I enjoyed that!
What goals do you have as a photographer?
My main goal is to get as many gallery projects as I can and then use my editorial work as supplemental income!
Lauryn Garrison
How would you describe your style?
I have a very editorial style with my work. I enjoy
incorporating color and I think that started during my color theory class at RMCAD. I got to paint on someone and photographed them with a colorful backdrop.
What is the most important thing you learned at RMCAD?
Taking classes, such as 2D and 3D design and color theory, I enhanced my understanding of color. I could build sets to make my photos even more artistic and then light them in creative ways. I definitely found my style at RMCAD.
What goals do you have as a photographer?
I would like to work as a fashion photographer, for a magazine like Glamour. I am focusing more on my editorial photography to try to get my foot in the door in the fashion industry.
These alumni embody just a few of the endless opportunities available with a BFA in Photography, to hear the story of another Photography Alumni click here.
Many of the quotes in this story have been edited for brevity and clarity by the author, but are meant to retain the significance and purpose of the original speaker.
